Hi, I am looking to buy a new hifi set, and I'm abit lost. I don't know what to buy. here are my options: 1. harman kardon 3370 or NAD 320BEE with monitor audio bronze b4 speakers 2. denon 1014 with wharfedale atlantic at-400 3. yamaha Rx 596 or Ax 596 with mission m34 I would really appreciate tips and help, because i can't decide.
In my experience, Nad amps aren't the best for rock. Brilliant with other genres but if you're going to be mainly rockin' I'd give them a wide birth. Lots of my rock cd's sound painful through my Nad. Marantz PM7200 is a great rock amp, as is the Cambridge Audio Azur 640A. Denon amps are a tad bright for my tastes and I can't comment on the HK as I haven't heard it. I think the Yamaha would be a bit pedestrian. Which speakers to go for depends entirely on the source, amp and room setting. The Monitor Audio Bronze and Wharfedales have a much better frequency response than the Missions so I'd cross the M34's off your list.
Noam, if your gonna play rock, you'll probably want it loud, no? My 30 years experience has told me speakers have more to do with what folks describe as "Painful" sound than the amp. Thats mostly do to a couple factors: poorly designed crossovers and tweeters/cabinets that ring. My speakers even sound great, not just good, on OLD ROCK! Records even! Stuff that always sounded just plain bad is now pretty darn exciting. Even *gulp* MP-3's sound damn good on these babies. Phase shift seems to be the culprit. In fact, looking back over 30 years of audio, every single component I ever hated I can blame phase problems. From early cassette decks with azimuth problems to the first cd players @44.1k sampling to cheap Japanese amps with massive feedback loops to almost all multi-way speakers.....phase is a HUGE problem.
I agree with mauimusicman. For accurate stereo positioning and other good things, unintended phase differences between drivers and speakers are public enemy number one.
Planar speakers such as Quad ESL get around this. Magnepan also, I am told (i have not heard these; they don't reach far out of N. America). There are cheaper ways around, with conventional electromagnetic speakers.
But many people have these sorts of speakers mentally filed under "good for classical". You guys seem to agree that there are systems that are "good for rock". I just don't get this! "Good for sound" is what we want, I always think. Do classical listeners not care about bass, or never play it loud? Do rock listeners not need to hear the words, or the positions of the performers? Then you can ask what is the difference in these sorts of music, anyway. I find it difficult to see the dividing line.
I do not mean to hi-jack your thread, noam. Personally, I would look hardest at option 1, for any sort of music. But that's why I raise the general question. Perhaps I should make a new thread.